‘Occulture’

Abstract

Chapter 3, ‘Occulture’, considers the presence of ecstatic phenomena in late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century ‘occulture’, which it defines as an alternative subculture occupying a middle position between the world of science and that of official religion. The chapter traces the spread of magnetic culture and Spiritualism in post-unification Italy, the clerical and medical distrust they elicited, and the ways in which they raised questions about the stability and unity of the self. The chapter focuses on magnetic ecstasies and mediumistic trances, analysing the power dynamics underlying such experiences. Emphasizing the role played by women in late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century ‘occulture’, the chapter shows how, by entering into ecstatic states, female somnambulists and mediums were able to transcend the everyday patriarchal order and challenge normative notions of femininity. The chapter explores the cases of magnetic couple Francesco Guidi and his wife Luisa, stage hypnotist Alfred D’Hont (Donato), medium Eusapia Palladino, and, finally, the occult experiments of the writer Luigi Capuana with a woman named Beppina Poggi.